The Sardar Sarovar Dam : a Brief Introduction

The recent decision of the Supreme Court to allow the construction
of the Sardar Sarovar dam, even as thousands of families are
yet to be rehabilitated and 35000 more face displacement, is a violation of its own judgement of Oct 2000 and March
2005, that unambiguously state that further construction cannot happen until rehabilitation of temporarily and permanently
affected families is completed as per the Narmada Tribunal Award. Despite overwhelming evidence, the recent protests in Delhi
and a 20 day hunger strike , the Supreme Court and Government of India have
turned a blind eye to this grave injustice.

Immediately Call/FAX the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz and
other officials and urge them to immediately stop any increase in SSP dam height which will endanger the lives of over 35000 families
until the entire area is surveyed and all affected people adequately rehabilitated according to the NWDT guidelines with land.
Ask the PM to intervene and stop construction in accordance with the mandate from the SC.

Amongst the 30 large dams planned for the Narmada, the Sardar Sarovar dam
is the largest. With a proposed height of 136.5 m (455 feet), it is the focal
point of both the dam-builders plans and the Narmada Bachao Andolan's
opposition. The Govt claims that the multi-purpose Sardar Sarovar Project
(SSP) would irrigate more than 1.8 million hectares (mostly in Gujarat,
some in Rajasthan) and quench the thirst of the drought prone areas of
Kutch and Saurashtra in Gujarat. The opponents of the dam counter that
these benefits are grossly exaggerated and would never accrue to the
extent suggested by the Govt. Instead the project would displace more
than 320,000 people and affect the livelihood of thousands of others.
Overall, due to
related displacements by the canal system and other allied projects, at least
1 million people are expected to be affected if the project is completed.

Map #1: Command area of the SSP

Map #2: Command area of the SSP

Map #3: Project area of the SSP

With no information forthcoming from the Govt. regarding the details of the
project, the plans for the people to be affected etc. the NBA declared its
opposition to the entire project taking into consideration the scale of
adverse impacts.
Throughout 1990-91, with a series of dharnas (sit-in's),
non-violent protests (satyagraha) the NBA highlighted the plight of the
oustees and the fundamentally flawed nature of the project. Under intense pressure,
the World Bank (which was funding the dam to the tune of $450 million) was
forced to constitute an independent review committee, the Morse Commission.
The first independent review of any of the Bank funded projects, the Morse
Report indicted the Bank on many counts and tacitly endorsed all the main
concerns raised by the Andolan. The resultant international furore forced the
Bank to finally withdraw from the project (with mutually face-saving measures
for the Banks and the Govt. of India which asked the Bank to leave one day before
the deadline for some stipulations was to expire).

Following a writ petition by the NBA calling for a comprehensive review of
the project to take into consideration all the concerns raised, the Supreme
Court of India halted construction of the dam in 1995 at a height of 80.3m.
However, in an interim order in February 1999, the Supreme Court gave the
go ahead for the dam's height to be raised to a height of 88m (85m + 3m of
"humps"). The resultant increased flooding in the monsoon season of 1999
can potentially drown the homes and lands of as many as 2000 tribal
families in about 50 villages.

On October 18, 2000, the Supreme Court of India delivered its judgement on
the Sardar Sarovar Project. In a 2 to 1 majority judgement, it allowed
immediate construction on the dam upto a height of 90m. Further, the judgement
authorized construction upto the originally planned height of 138m. in 5-meter
increments subject to receiving approval from the Relief and Rehabilitation
Subgroup of the Narmada Control Authority. It should be noted that the Court
has said nothing new on the matter.
The Narmada Water
Disputes Tribunal Award states that land should be made available to
the oustees at least an year in advance before submergence (Clause IX,
Subclause IV(2)(iv) and Subclause IV(6)(i)).
The essentially unfettered clearance from the Supreme Court has come from
the Court despite major unresolved issues on resettlement, the environment,
and the project's costs and benfits.

Status of rehabilitation

In a recent report, a panel of the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights (IPT)
confirms "the failures of government agencies to adhere
to [..] the Supreme Court judgment in 2000, [..]"For Annexures, click here.

International Accountability Project: Letter sent by Dana Clark to the Worldbank regarding the current situation in the Narmada valley and its
role and accountability in the SSP project (Jun 2003) [ PDF (100K)]

Letter sent by prominent Indian citizens to the Chief Justice Khare regarding the situation in the Narmada valley
[PDF ] [
RTF Word ]

"A Brief Report on SSP
Benchmarks", Patrick McCully, April 1, 1993. IRN's Campaigns
Director examines the failure of Sardar Sarovar to meet performance
benchmarks set forth by the Indian Government and the World Bank.